One aspect relates to a system and method of recovering minerals using microwave and ultrasound energy. Throughout the world, there are quantities of minerals combined with other material. Often, attempts are made to separate materials. For example, ores are treated by mechanical, chemical, or thermal processes, or some combination thereof to liberate marketable minerals from waste minerals (called gangue).
In many mining districts enormous quantities of mineral resources are not utilized because mining and/or mineral processing to recover the marketable constituents is uneconomical. Additional quantities of desired minerals are locked to gangue minerals and are rejected during mining or mineral processing and are sent to stockpiles or tailing basins.
Billions of tons of unmined minerals, mined minerals disposed of in stockpiles and tailing basins, and other waste materials in landfills would be utilized if processing costs for separating gangue from valuable minerals were significantly reduced.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present embodiments.